“Luck” puts a spotlight on an exquisite five-course meal, beautifully plated and served on an elegant banquet table. It ignores the kitchen full of under/over-cooked mistakes and dirty dishes.

I’m the first one to admit that sometimes people are just in the right place at the right time, but I’d also argue that being in the right place at the right time is a direct result of relentless research.

Creative professionals might feel lucky to have their positions, but luck wasn’t the main factor that got them there.

Reader Comments (19)

Great blog and so true. As a designer and a small business owner, I am always looking for ideas for ongoing projects and rarely ‘switch off’ like an office based job might especially if I have a looming deadline.

My final design end results may look fairly simplistic, but there has been a thorough brief analysed, thought process and probably many alternative versions produced before I get to the end result that I am happy to present to the client.

I love your quote, “Creativity is not linear.” That is so true. Working with clients to create their book or blog, I have many times started in one direction with them only to have the desired end result look much different than the original concept. The pathway through that is always interesting!

When an idea hits me, regardless of the time of day or my location, you’ll find me taking note of it for later reference. I enjoy the challenge of being an editor, writer, and writing coach because every client and every project is unique. The pieces of each puzzle fit together so differently.

You perfectly captured what it’s like to work in a creative field. Thanks for sharing!

I really liked your story in the beginning of the post about being at dinner with a writer friend. It gives me an idea of what my wife might be going through when I’m capturing ideas all day long. I might think that she thinks I’m not really doing anything but this post puts to rest that assumption. Creative work is immeasurably important.

All I can do is do my creative work and become a professional. I am so excited for the future!

As a creative professional it can be really frustrating. Friends and even family think you don’t do work. They instead think you click a few buttons on a computer all day.

It’s hard because our creative brains never turn off. We are always thinking of our next creation. Next time I get that look for pulling out my phone to jot down an idea I am sending my friends this article! Perhaps then they will get it!

It was beyond the scope of the article, but I’m thinking about what “work” actually is or means to people.

Do you have to be doing something unenjoyable for it to be thought of as “work?” Does someone have to give you specific orders or directions for it to be “work?”

It’s fascinating that being a “self-starter” can be a desirable quality on a resume — but the work self-starters perform often doesn’t “look like work” to others.

Sometimes a good amount of creative work can be accomplished in only a short period of time, and we extract a lot of value from decompressing (getting ideas in the shower) as well, which can cause eye rolls from others. 😉

As someone who’s just starting to become a writer in Patreon, I started panicking if I could really make it. But reading this comforts me that I’m not alone.

I began thinking, “I should’ve done this first, I should’ve done that first” but the quote “Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible” has calmed down my fears a bit to accept that I still have a lot of work to do.

I began to understand my creative career path better upon reading your line, “And those who succeed have failed faster and found better ways to realize their ambitious dreams.”

I just want to say thank you for writing this and I’m thankful for opening my email today.

Thanks so much for painting creative careers in such an honest, authentic light! So many people think that anything creative-based is all fun and no work, while never realizing that it’s fun because it’s such hard work. And even though having to be creative on demand is exhausting, I’ll always be grateful to hold such an awesome job!